Morally Offensive or Just Plain Stupid?
"I'm sorry Mr. Bond. I don't get the connection."
- Le Chiffre (Orson Welles)
^^ And that line pretty much sums up the whole movie. There's so much insanity on display in "Casino Royale" that it's easy to miss some of the more offensive and outrageous moments. Here's a list of some morally offensive scenes that I and someone else noticed:
1. At McTarry's "M" Castle in Scotland
- M's widow (actually a SMERSH spy ... but never mind) brings out a live goat for slaughter that is carried by "six barefoot virgins" as part of some elaborate Scottish mourning ritual. Later, she points to a painting of an ugly woman on the wall who was raped many years ago by the "canbals." She then explains to James Bond (David Niven) that Lord McTarry, M's ancestor, told his eldest son to go out and rape 12 canbal women in retaliation and that, as a result, children were produced and some of their land was taken. She also mentions that this rape was somehow ordained by Scripture. I suppose all of this is meant to make fun of Scottish culture. Watch this clip and you can judge for yourself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NntND8lwSSU
Moral offense: Women as rape objects, making fun of ugly people, condescending to Scottish culture, and trivializing religion.
2. Peter Sellers and the "dress-up" scene
- At Vesper Lynd's (Ursula Andress) apartment, Evelyn Tremble (Peter Sellers) decides to try on various costumes while Lynd takes pictures of him. This is supposed to be a scene of sexual seduction. One of the costumes that Tremble puts on is that of Adolf Hitler. Dressed as Hitler with the moustache and the swastika, he does the Nazi salute and tells Lynd that "he'll show her his strawberry if she shows him her aprocot." He also dresses up as Napoleon, another dictator. The last outfit he tries on is possibly that of a stereotypical Jew. However, this was very unclear to us. If anyone has any idea what this last outfit was supposed to be, let us know.
Moral offense: The inappropriate use of Adolf Hitler and the swastika for the purpose of comedy, followed by the possible stereotyping of Jews.
3. Jokes about incest, pedophilia, gays, and little people
- When James Bond (David Niven) visits his daughter in India, the insinuation is made that she finds him sexually attractive. She goes so far as to joke that if he weren't her father, she would "fancy him." Keep in mind that Niven's Bond is supposed to be elderly in this movie (according to the wikipedia entry).
- Back at McTarry Castle in Scotland, Niven's Bond is seen getting naked in a bathtub with a young, seventeen year-old girl (another SMERSH agent). The girl jokes that she used to do this all the time with her father and that he used to call her his "thermometer." All of the women at the castle who are trying to seduce Bond, we're told, are between 16 and 19 years of age (except the widow, of course).
- At Q's laboratory, a little person wearing an elf costume is seen stalking the Peter Sellers character and looking at him through binoculars. We're told he's a security guard. Later, when Tremble (Sellers) tries on gear for Q, a mention is made of "midget transmittors." Q's assistant is portrayed as stereotypically gay and humor is derived from having him help Sellers to undress.
Moral offense: Inappropriate and offensive jokes involving underage girls, condescending to little people and gays.
4. Ethnic and cultural stereotyping
- Scottish culture, as mentioned above, features heavily throughout this movie. We see multiple scenes involving bagpipe players (as if that's all Scottish people do) and bizarre, barbaric rituals that don't make any sense.
- In India, men worship James Bond's daughter as some kind of virgin goddess. They exist to worship at her feet while she lives a life of luxury.
- In East Germany during the auction scene, the Chinese are seen betting tons of rice while the Russians bet Vodka and Caviar. Both the Chinese and the Russians are seen sitting in the red-lighted half of the room. In fact, the entirety of East Berlin is lit in red lights while West Berlin is filled with prostitutes. When the Berlin Wall explodes, people are shown fleeing into West Berlin.
- British characters are over-the-top stereotypes. The taxi driver, in one scene, even has the British flag on his back for no other reason than to overemphasize the fact that he's British.
- During the finale at Casino Royale, stereotypical cowboys and indians show up to both help and cause trouble. The cowboys shoot spitballs at people while the indians shoot arrows and carry hatchets. When the indians jump out of the plane, they shout "geronimo" and the letters "007" can be seen painted on their foreheads. Later, they do a pow-wow like dance around a bonfire that they started in the middle of the casino. All of this happens as people run around screaming and dying. Haven't the Native Americans suffered enough that they now have to suffer through the obscenity that is this movie?
- During Tremble's baccarat game with Le Chiffre (Orson Welles), the Sellers character randomly starts speaking in an Indian accent and then, later, in a Chinese accent. What he says during these moments amounts to absolute gibberish.
Moral offense: Cultures and various ethnic groups are depicted in the broadest and most stereotypical manner possible, the Native Americans are brought in simply for cheap laughs.
5. Death and destruction at the Casino Royale
- During the crazy climax of the film, David Niven's Bond at one point hits a button on a casino railing that then shoots ammunition at the people running for their lives in the casino. Are we supposed to find these deaths funny? Are we supposed to assume that the people getting shot at are all agents for SMERSH? It seems reasonable to assume that there were many innocent people there too who didn't deserve to die. Other people are seen being killed by indians and by a roulette wheel/machine that shoots ammunition and ... bubbles? The death count in this movie is very high and there are many jokes involving corpses.
Moral offense: The death of potentially innocent people is meant to be funny.
So, is there anything else that people found to be offensive? Also, is it fair to call this movie offensive? Or, is it just plain stupid?